Yellowstone has been hit by a 2.6 magnitude earthquake this evening, setting alarm bells ringing with the park’s fearsome supervolcano already “under strain” according to one expert. Below the surface of the park lies the fearsome Yellowstone Caldera, a supervolcano which last erupted approximately 630,000 years ago. Experts warn it erupts roughly every million years, with some geologists claiming it is already showing signs it could be ready to blow once again. Today’s earthquake roughly 20 miles from the supervolcano will add to concerns of an imminent – and devastating…

Butterflies offer key insights into community ecology, how species originate and evolve, climate change and interactions between plants and insects. But a comprehensive map of how butterflies are related to each other has been lacking — until now.

As winters arrive later and snow melts earlier, the worldwide decrease in snow cover already may have dramatic impacts on animals that change coat colors with the seasons. An international scientific team has set out to discover whether adaptive evolution can rescue these animals in the face of rapidly changing climate.

Researchers had thought that due to the melting ice caps, sea levels were rising by a steady three millimetres per year. But new research has found the rate is increasing by 0.08 mm every year, meaning that by 2100, sea levels could be rising by 10 mm per year. The study was carried out by scientists at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado in Boulder who have been analysing satellite data over the last 25 years. Steve Narem, the leader of the…

Virtually all of Australia’s shellfish reefs have disappeared, making them the country’s most threatened ocean ecosystem, scientists say (AFP Photo/Ben DIGGLES) Sydney (AFP) – Virtually all of Australia’s shellfish reefs have disappeared, making them the country’s most threatened ocean ecosystem, scientists said Thursday, calling for more investment to rescue the important marine habitats. While recent global focus has been on the destruction of coral reefs, a study led by the Nature Conservancy found that between 90 and 99 percent of shellfish reefs have vanished since British colonisation 230 years ago.…

The New York Times parted ways with its newly hired editorial board member Quinn Norton just hours after discovering that she had sent tweets with slurs in past years. The news organization has been trying to broaden the perspective of its editorial board by hiring writers who are outside of the conventional mold, but its latest attempt was torpedoed by the Twitterverse. Journalist Quinn Norton speaks during the memorial service for Aaron Swartz in New York in 2013. Mary Altaffer / AP file On Tuesday, the newspaper announced that it…

No administration has waited as long as Donald Trump’s to appoint a science adviser since the role was codified by Congress in 1976. (Kevin Lamarque / Reuters) More Almost 390 days since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a critical White House role remains conspicuously vacant. Despite repeated calls from lawmakers and top scientists to nominate a science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Trump has yet to appoint one. This is longest that the science office ― which is currently operating with a “skeleton staff” ― has…

Overwhelming scientific evidence has demonstrated that our planet is getting warmer due to climate change, yet parts of the eastern US are actually getting cooler. According to a new study, the location of this anomaly, known as the ‘US warming hole,’ is a moving target. During the winter and spring, the US warming hole sits over the Southeast, as the polar vortex allows arctic air to plunge into the region, resulting in persistently cooler temperatures.

Four years ago, the pipes under Missoula, Montana were leaking nearly 8,000 gallons of water a minute and, by the city’s tally, needed nearly $100 million in repairs. But Missoula couldn’t fix it: A private company owned the water system. Missoula took the owners to court, using eminent domain laws to bring its fully privatized water system back under public control. Around the same time, 1,170 miles south, Rialto, California was looking to private companies to help solve its own water infrastructure problems. It signed a 30-year concession agreement with…